This article presents a fragment of the history of psychology in Poland, discussing its development in the years 1945–56, which saw sweeping political and geographical transformations. In that maelstrom of history, psychology was particularly affected by the effects of geopolitical changes, which led to its symbolic ‘arrest’ in 1952, when psychological practice was prohibited and all psychology courses were abolished at universities. Amnesty was declared only in 1956, with the demise of the so-called Stalinist ‘cult of personality’ and the onset (...) of a turbulent period when the crimes of the Stalinist era were prosecuted. We have adopted three time frames for our description and analysis of this dramatic period in the development of psychology in Poland. ‘The past’ is a story about the flourishing of Polish psychology before World War Two and the hopes for the discipline’s restoration after the war. ‘The present’, as the core of this narrative, represents the events of 1950–56. ‘The future’ refers to the period when Stalinist abuses were prosecuted during the Thaw, following the collapse of the Stalinist dictatorship, and the resurgence of Polish psychologists’ hopes for resurrecting their discipline. In all these periods, the narrative is interwoven with the story of the Polish psychologist Mieczysław Kreutz, who offers a model example of the hypothesized dependence of scientific research on sociopolitical change. (shrink)

The current heated debate on the deteriorating status of the university raises a range of pertinent questions, including: What role can the humanities play in culture today in the face of the crisis of higher education? To answer this question, the authors begin by problematizing the relationship between culture, the humanities, and education. In the second part of the paper, they examine the changing role of the humanities in conjunction with the understandings of culture, and outline three salient ways in (...) which culture is conceived of today. Subsequently, they focus on the loss of the dominant status that culture suffered when everyday life was discovered in modernity. In the third part, they argue that everyday life, or rather social representations of everyday life and its practices, are currently becoming the chief criterion for assessing culture, the humanities, and education. However, everyday life remains complex both in theoretical conceptualizations and in research observations. For example, everyday life harbors a range of risks and anxieties which are veiled by its own obviousness and reinforced by socialization. The authors conclude that, given this, everyday life in democratic societies calls for the work of understanding, support, affirmation, and criticism, in which the humanities can retain their superior status. In the fourth part, the authors discuss non-consensual democracy, critical community, and the pedagogy of asylum as the forms of organization and action that promote an auspicious interconnection of culture, the humanities, and education. (shrink)

This compound paper presents the views of two Polish philosophers on the strong international pressures influencing the development of Polish philosophy in recent times. The first part, by Leszek Koczanowicz, treats the philosophical situation and problems of totalitarian Poland under the influence of Soviet Marxism, while the second part, by Adam Chmielewski, focuses on the main trends and difficulties of post‐totalitarian Poland, dominated by Western influence.

Samuel J. Wheeler defends Wittgenstein's criticism of Cantor's set theory against the objections raised by Hilary Putnam. Putnam claims that Wittgenstein's dismissal of the basic tenets of this set theory concerning the noncountability of the set of real numbers was unfounded and ill‐conceived. In Wheeler's view, Putnam's charges result from his failure to grasp Wittgenstein's intention and, in particular, to consider the difference between empirical and logical impossibility. In my paper, I argue that Wheeler's defence is unsuccessful and, at the (...) same time, that Putnam's objections go too far. (shrink)

Das Ziel der von mir vorgestellten Arbeit ist zu beweisen, dass Nie-Boska komedia (Die ungöttliche Komödie) von Zygmunt Krasiński eine romantische Moralität ist. In Beziehung auf das mittelalterliche Gattungsmodell weise ich nach, dass dieses Drama des polnischen Romantikers in Anlehnung and Moralitätsschema konstruiert worden ist. Dieses Schema gibt die Voraussetzung für die im Werk enthaltene Vision der Welt und des Menschen. Die Anfangskapitel widmen sich der Rekonstruktion und Analyse der im Werk des Authors von Irydion vorgestellten Visionen von außerirdischen Gegenden (...) des Universums, weil die Erde, wie in einer typischen Moralität, nur sein Teil ist. Aus dieser übernatürlichen Wirklichkeit kommen sowohl gute, als auch böse Kräfte, die sich im Laufe des Dramas bemühen, einen Einfluss auf den Helden zu erobern. Sie möchten ihn entweder zur Errettung oder zur Verdammung bringen, was in Konsequenz eine Übermacht im ewigen Ringen zwischen Gott und seinem großen Widersacher - Satan erreichen lässt. Im weiteren Teil meiner Arbeit versuche ich die Kreationsweise der in Nie-Boska komedia auftretenden Engel- und Dämonwesen zu bestimmen und auch auf eventuelle Inspirationsquellen und Entlehnungen zu weisen. Ich will auch die Methoden und Mittel zeigen, mit Hilfe deren sie auf ihr Hauptziel - den Grafen Henryk einwirken. Besonders interessant scheint die Gestalt von Pankracy zu sein, der vielleicht ein Instrument in Händen der metaphysischen Mächte ist. Das Drama von Krasiński halte ich für geistliche Geschichte vom Grafen Henryk. (shrink)

The problem of charging interest has been discussed since the time of Aristotle. It was condemned in the Christian religion in the Middle Ages. Only when the interest was specified as a payment for productive capital was it considered that the borrower, enriched by the money lent, should let the lender benefit in accordance with the principle of fairness. The borrower should share the profit with the lender, and from this moment the percentage is no longer something shameful and neglected. (...) Religious beliefs and accepted moral values have changed over time, adapting to the circumstances, so has the approach to collecting interest from the capital lent. However, there is still a great deal of criticism of excessive interest rates. The purpose of this paper is to present a discussion related to the charging of interest presented in the tradition of economics and also to show some aspects of the problem in relation to the present times, such as excessive debt and responsible lending. (shrink)

The expansion of competition on financial services market forces to search for new ways of development. A bank-insurance cooperation, which is more and more popular in the world and in Poland, becomes an effective remedy to this problem and a factor which stimulates rivalry and competition. The final beneficent of this cooperation is a customer for whom a diverse market offer of financial services means creation of added value. The customer’s satisfaction with that kind of services is important to further (...) development of bank-insurance cooperation. The aim of this work is to estimate whether the services of an integrated bank-insurance offer and insurances with mortgage credits are friendly and useful, and also whether they assure comfort and safety or may cause risk. (shrink)

System guarantying deposits in Poland was created during the economy transformation. Its founding was resulted from a tough situation in the bank sector, that is why it was supposed to be an antidotum to clients' problems connected with solvency of the collapsing banks and also with adjusting to the European community law. The aim of this work is to present The Bank Guarantee Fund, an institution belonging to a network of financial security, which main task is to protect the deponent’s (...) interests and to secure the banking system's stability. The work concerns some aspects of the growing interest in insurance systems for banks deposits and revived discussions on this subject during crisis on bank markets. In reply on the crisis, which was started on credit market subprime in USA and then spread on other segments of financial markets in other countries, the ECOFIN took a decision for increasing the obligatory guarantee limits for individual persons and also for accelerating the payment of guaranteed means. The aim of above changes is to increase surety of clients and trust to bank sector. (shrink)

The aim of the article is to present Marek Siemek’s interpretation of modernity, focusing on problems related to understanding of the modern subject that arose from the reading of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment. Siemek seems to endorse a general drive of Habermas’ theory of intersubjective communication intended to overcome the dialectics of Enlightenment and to complete the project of modernity. However, his position is that its foundation can be traced back to the philosophies of Fichte (...) and Hegel and their mutually complementary intersubjectivity models. Siemek seeks to reconcile the idea of the philosophy of intersubjectivity underlying Fichte’s and Hegel’s philosophies with the tenets of the philosophy of consciousness. (shrink)

The question of politics is underdeveloped in René Girard's mimetic theory. This can be fairly easily accounted for. First, mimesis is essentially an ethical mechanism. In Girard, it pertains both to a set of moral prescriptions and to an ethos, understood here as a way of being that exchanges harmful repetitions for favorable ones.1 Throughout his work, Girard advances an ethics of generosity that steers clear of reciprocity, which, in his framework, would lead to violence.2 Second, Girard concentrates on social (...) structures and religious institutions that have been developed over the ages to deal with mimetic crises. These structures of containment protect communities from an all-consuming outbreak of violence by... (shrink)

“Representation” and “articulation” are important terms in discussions of multispecies relations. In this article, I propose the term “coarticulation” that describes a process of mutual intelligibility between a human and a nonhuman and of rendering each other capable in new ways. This article argues that the concept of “coarticulation” offers a way to enrich our understanding of our human-nonhuman relations and give ontological consistency to various types of nonhumans that matter to us. It traces the reciprocal imprints that nonhumans and (...) humans make on each other. Not least, it provides an alternative way to think about politics with nonhumans: a politics of cohabitation. (shrink)

This article attempts to respond to the fractional presence of feminist discourse around René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire. I will first briefly examine the relevant critical stands on mimesis and then proceed to rehabilitate it for feminism via an analysis of Judith Butler’s theory of performative gender. By bringing together selected aspects of Girard and Butler’s work, it will be possible to build a constructive dialogue between the two thinkers. Due to the scope of the paper I will not (...) be able to give an exhaustive account of the respective theories, and hence I will discuss only the most relevant aspects. Girard is concerned with giving an account of conflictual mimetic desire in social and cultural.. (shrink)

The present paper consists of two parts. In the first, some issues related to the character of biological experiments conducted under in vitro cultures are portrayed. The relevant aspects of these procedures are explicated from the viewpoint of the experimental botanist. It is a case study for the considerations in the second part, which presents selected philosophical and legal issues involved in biological experiments from the general perspective of philosophical investigations concerning the problem of plants’ axiology. Obviously, the nature of (...) the considerations is limited; not all important questions from the perspective of biology and philosophy have been raised. Nevertheless, the authors hope that the analyzed issues may be interesting for both biologists and philosophers. (shrink)

Martin Jay is one of America's leading intellectual historians. His work spans almost all important questions concerning the subject of modernity. Outstanding Polish scholars engage in a dialogue with Jay’s work, discussing significant problems of modernity and postmodernity. The book offers a broad panorama of contemporary thought approached from various angles. It is also a unique exercise of intercultural intellectual dialogue covering many areas from literature to politics. The book also includes an essay on photography by Martin Jay and his (...) detailed response to the other contributors, which has the character of an extended conversation with them. The book can serve as an assessment of the uptake of Jay’s ideas, and equally well as a general introduction to the genealogy of modernity and postmodernity. (shrink)

Globalization is a cultural phenomenon. The authors present the thematically multi-dimensional and theoretically complex contribution of Polish research on globalization. They do not approach globalization as an abstract process, instead exploring it through the lens of clearly defined factors.

The paper is aimed at discussing two interpretations of pragmatism in a broader framework of general rules of philosophical interpretation. J. Habermas' and R. Rorty's uses of pragmatism are considered in detail and confronted with general assumptions of pragmatic philosophy. It is shown that in both cases the original ideas of pragmatism are changed in order to fit the philosophies of interpreters. The paper ends with discussion of a possibility of applying the rule of interpretative charity and dialogue to philosophical (...) analyses. Key Words: communication • dialogue • interpretation • postmodernism • pragmatism • tradition • transcendentalism. (shrink)

The book is a reflection over how art functions in late modernity. It emphasizes processes of fictionalizing reality and exposes, how phenomenology can be used to extract this problem on a foundation of aesthetics. It is a panoramic outlook over existing views, but also a self-sufficient theoretical proposal.

The paper concerns a form of experiencing time which is specific for haiku poetry. Haiku is an expression of the momentary glimpse of time. Haiku poetry treats the moment uninstrumentally, neither as a result of the past nor as a transition to future deeds. Seen this way, the moment arises on the stream of time as a unique, existential experience. It is my attempt to explain the phenomenon of this experience of “now” as I explore the metaphors of “background”, “figure” (...) and “composition”. (shrink)

Fiodor Dostoyevsky in his oeuvre indicates certain attitudes, which are often recognized in the process of man's thinking and behavior. They are conditioned by the manner he perceives reality and they in themselves appoint simultaneously this way of world perception. Some of those occurrences resemble in a great manner the defense mechanisms, which are described in the later literature. A first mechanism that was analyzed is pursue simplification, which causes a man to believe that thanks to the achieved knowledge he (...) will be able to set in order and fix imperfect reality. Such attitude enforces simplified vision of the world, which in turn helps in self-deception. Dostoyevsky's heroes have problems to recognize true motives of their own behaviors or they intentionally attribute nobler incentives to themselves. Therefore the next described attitude is reluctance to acknowledge the truth. The Russian writer rejects generally accepted disjunctivity of the 'truth and false' category and he attributes the final might to acknowledge something as true or false to the man's will. On account of innate laziness and refractoriness, man chooses the simplest solutions, which in point of fact dismiss possibility to see real reasons for all failures. It makes impossible to undertake activities, which could indeed change something. Man is characterized by irresponsibility for his actions and words. A word looses its causative meaning and becomes purely a decoration, an ornament. All these make that learning the truth, as one of the elements propelling development of the philosophy, was not impossible but it was unwanted. (shrink)

This article is a presentation of the problem of human nature in Dostoevsky's writings. Its author does not agree that the great Russian thinker would give his assent to any of the two opposing ideas: neither that man is good by nature nor that his fate from the moment of birth is tragic. Dostoevsky has proved that freedom constitutes the core of human being. When this freedom is used in a wrong way man becomes bad, and if it is used (...) according to Jesus Christ teachings, he may attain righteousness due to His Grace. In such circumstances, there is no space for any predetermination. Man is free, if he wants to be free. He has got free will. He is always responsible for everything he has done. Dostoevsky uses the term n a t u r e in two different meanings. The first one is essential and refers to the notion of freedom. Consequently, Dostoevsky claims, human nature is beyond full cognition. The second meaning of the term nature refers to the attributes of a particular nation. The differences between nations are further evidence of freedom, which manifests in an infinity of ways. Nature understood as such can be changed and comprehended. The change requires much effort over a long period of time but can by achieved. To capture the full picture of the problem of human nature in Dostoevsky's ultimately it works, both meanings of the above notion should be the taken into consideration. (shrink)

The article analyses the scientific work of Bohdan Jałowiecki, highlighting his influence on the development of interdisciplinary urban studies in Poland. By integrating elements of sociology, geography and spatial planning, Jałowiecki contributed significally to the internationalisation of Polish scientific thought, including the intoduction of the French concepts of Henri Lefebvre and Manuel Castells. The introduction of the idea of social production of space and rational electicism in research methodology allowed for a deeper understanding of socio-spatial processes. The article discusses Jałowiecki's (...) assessment of development policies during socialism and systematic transformation, incuding his early warnings against the uncritical adoption of the dogma of economic growth. Jałowiecki emphasised the importance of socialising spatial planning and citizen participation in decision-making processes, stressing the need to integrate economic and spatial planning in order to fully reflect the public interest and shape the spatial order. (shrink)

Scholars in multispecies ethnography, the ontological turn, new materialisms, science and technology studies (STS), assemblage urbanism and other movements within the posthumanities broadly considered often treat cosmopolitics, initially proposed by Isabelle Stengers and subsequently taken up by Bruno Latour, as a single coherent concept. However, Stengers’s cosmopolitics differs considerably from Latour’s. The difference is most clearly visible in their contrasting positions on the concept of universality. Even though their divergence on universality could be considered a minor philosophical dispute among intellectual (...) allies, it should not be underestimated. It determines what sort of political practice each of these philosophers envisions with cosmopolitics. Their visions of political practice are substantially different. This article will examine Latour’s and Stengers’s diverging positions on universality, delineate the two types of cosmopolitics, and, finally, analyze what sort of political practice each of these cosmopolitics implies. (shrink)

Recent debates within broadly considered posthumanities have been populated by various conceptual personae. One such figure is the diplomat. First proposed in this context by Isabelle Stengers in her Cosmopolitics series, the diplomat has been subsequently taken up and further developed by Bruno Latour, particularly in his AIME project, and most recently by Baptiste Morizot in Les Diplomates. This article traces the metamorphosis of this conceptual character in the work of Stengers, Latour and Morizot. As all three versions are relatively (...) close to each other, this article proposes three companion figures: the heretic (for Stengers), the designer (for Latour) and the amateur (for Morizot) that allow us to carefully examine the differences between, and the specific stakes of, each iteration of the diplomat. Furthermore, the article critically evaluates the theoretical pertinence of the diplomat figure for each philosopher’s project and considers its potential for thinking about the future of our more-than-human worlds. (shrink)

Maria Kokoszyńska-Lutmanowa (1906-1981) was a Polish philosopher and student of Kazimierz Twardowski, the founder of the Lvov-Warsaw School. In 1938 she went to the University of Cambridge (Newnham College) on a Sarah Smitton Fellowship. There she attended George Edward Moore’s lectures as well as one of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics in 1939. In this interview which was conducted with Alois Eder she talks about her encounter with Wittgenstein. It was published in 1978 in the Polish art (...) and culture magazine Odra and is her only published memoir about Wittgenstein. The interview is republished here both in English translation and as facsimile of the original publication with the kind permission of the Odra magazine. (shrink)

The access of Poland to the EU caused the creation of the consumer protection system which consists of legal controls and different institutions such as e.g. UOKiK, BA, RZu. The aim of the study is to show problem of protection of bank services market consumer. The range of bank services is limited here to mortgage loans. Changes on the mortgage loan market in Poland during 2005–2008 are analysed in this work. The crisis on financial markets and its consequences have also (...) been considered. The author presents the bank actions in the face of consumers during the crisis and the possibilities of the solving the disputes with dissatisfied consumers. (shrink)